Albert & Otto: The Adventure Begins (PC) Review

Albert & Otto has Limbo written all over it. Despite the colour swap, with the protagonist Albert being white and the background being black, this game will almost immediately draw comparisons to the grandfather of black and white platforming. The platforming is tough, and several things that could never have been seen coming will kill even the most cautious player. Couple this with fairly infrequent checkpoints, and it's easy to see someone getting very frustrated very quickly.

It also adds in the bonus of being a twin stick shooter, which is almost enough to separate it from its brothers in the indie platforming field. Unfortunately, the shooting is sluggish, meaning players will need to remember where they need to shoot after inevitably dying in that spot in order to progress. When aiming, it feels like Albert may be making a fashion statement by wearing sandbags as bracelets, as moving the gun is incredibly cumbersome. However, when attempting to compensate for this, the aiming has a tendency to suddenly move quickly, leaving the feeling that getting the hang of the aiming system is something that simply isn't meant to be done.

The puzzles in a puzzle-platformer need to be derivative of the player mechanics, and should constantly ask users to build upon their past experiences. Here, again, Albert & Otto falters. The puzzles feel completely uninspired and unoriginal, and usually just require a rudimentary understanding of the game. Although, to its credit, the earlier puzzles do a good job of teaching what the player is capable of, they all feel like broken canvases waiting for a more thorough touch.

The artwork, is, however, really lovely. While it's definitely on the minimal side, and it is derivative of Limbo, it still manages to really peak as its own distinct style. Everything has rough, jagged edges, which manage to convey just how dangerous the world is around the player.

Beyond this, there is a story, but it's pretty good, so no need to delve too deeply into it. It's a rough sell, considering the weirdness of the game's controls, but it's worth pushing through for the interesting story. That's really all that can be said, though. The issue here is that while everything falls into place how it does, Albert & Otto isn't a bad game, nor is it a good game. It's brutally hard, difficult to control, not the best with puzzles, and has an atmosphere, art style, and story that make up for these things. That's all that can be said. Albert & Otto, for lack of a better word, is an average game.